


speechless

by malicecharity



Series: Fair Game Stories [3]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Also Flustered Clover, Confident Clover, Confident qrow, Fair Game Week 2020, Flirting, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:22:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23173882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malicecharity/pseuds/malicecharity
Summary: Clover's been flirting pretty obviously with Qrow for weeks now, and Qrow's had just about enough of it.Day 1 of Fair Game Week 2020: Flirting
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Series: Fair Game Stories [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1665880
Comments: 18
Kudos: 130





	speechless

Clover wolf-whistles. “Look what Lady Luck brought me today,” he says, eyes tracing Qrow up and down. Qrow scoffs. 

“Speaking of luck, don’t push yours,” he grumbles, pulling out Harbinger. “We’ve got a mission to focus on.” The Ace Op chuckles, undeterred and clearly in a more playful mood than usual. He shrugs and gives Qrow a self-satisfied grin. 

“But we have the night off after that. All that free time, and neither of us with any plans… can’t blame a guy for feeling a little romantic.” He waggles his eyebrows at the unimpressed huntsman, who rolls his eyes. 

“Right. I forgot that we’re still subjected to complete wastes of time instead of, I don’t know, doing our jobs.” 

“And here I was, about to ask you out to dinner,” he sighs. Qrow punches his shoulder and shrugs off the conversation for a moment, boarding the airship. Clover follows close behind, and once he sits down the ship takes off. 

Elm, who is across from the pair, huffs in amusement. Those two are always too caught up in flirting with one another to ever be on time; just another one of the changes that the new huntsmen have brought to Atlas. Clover had always been punctual and professional—and now, here he is, so distracted by his feelings for Qrow that he’s late and absentminded on missions. Still, she’s happy he found someone, although Qrow doesn’t seem to be quite as enthusiastic about all the luck puns.

The airship heads toward the tundra. Today the three of them are charged with clearing some mountain passes of Grimm for supply trucks to head to Amity. As they approach, the door opens, and the huntsmen wait until the ship is about to reach the first pass before Clover gives the signal to jump. Elm goes first, Timber held out in front of her and ready for battle. 

“See ya down there, birdie,” Clover says, before winking and leaning backwards to make what’s most certainly a choreographed graceful exit. Qrow contemplates turning into his corvid form just to show the man up, but despite the nickname Clover doesn’t actually know about that particular secret yet and Qrow’s been saving it for a special occasion. 

Harbinger out, Qrow dives toward the earth, the greatsword formation enhancing his aerodynamics until he plummets fast enough to catch up to Clover. He spares only a second to glance over at the man before grinning impishly and continuing his rapid descent. Down below Elm is fighting an Ursa. He aims for its back, right between the frozen spikes, and upon landing Harbinger goes straight through, causing the Grimm to collapse and dissipate into smoke. Elm nods at Qrow and turns to see Clover up ahead, wrangling another Ursa’s neck with Kingfisher. One rocket from her and some shotgun shells from Qrow are enough to take it down when they land on its exposed stomach. 

The rest of the mountain pass is quick work, and the team of three move on to the next, falling into a comfortable rhythm. Elm—without her partner, as Vine had other matters to attend to—takes on the Grimm largely alone, although Qrow sometimes hops in to deal a finishing blow when needed. Mostly he sticks close to Clover, and he’s glad he does; there’s a reason they’re partners. Clover is fast and troublesome for any Grimm. His defense is nearly impossible to break through, and his offense is less aggressive than it is cooperative, making him the perfect complement for Qrow, who can take advantage of all the setups Clover gives him. 

It certainly doesn’t help their partnership that the man seems to have given up all pretenses of subtlety in favor of flirting with him every chance he gets. If Clover winks one more time, or makes one more luck pun, or gives him one more nickname, Qrow will—

Well. He’ll do something. 

They move on to the next few passes, dispatching various different types of Grimm. Qrow notes with growing concern that the Grimm seem to be diversifying and evolving at a faster rate than he’s seen in more than twenty years of being a huntsman. It makes the fight more difficult, but between the three of them it’s not too hard, although there are a few close calls. One Sabyr in particular is an annoyance for Qrow; it’s clearly an older Grimm, and its years of experience make it a harder kill. It gets a good swipe in on his arm, leaving a shallow wound that weeps on the underside of his elbow, and he growls in frustration. “Lucky charm!” 

Clover, standing a bit farther up the pass, turns. He uses the hook of Kingfisher to grapple himself over to the Sabyr. “You called?” He says, grin mischievous, and lands behind the Grimm, slashing its back leg and causing it to divert its attention from Qrow to advance menacingly toward the Ace Op instead. Qrow takes advantage of its distraction to turn Harbinger into its tonfa form and strike at its back, although the frozen skin and tough bone render his blows mostly ineffective. Clover, still the Sabyr’s focus, casts Kingfisher’s line over its head and Qrow catches the hook, pulling him up and out of the way of the Sabyr’s incoming fangs, arcing through the air. In a quick move, he rotates so that Clover comes spinning back around and slices the Sabyr’s more vulnerable underbelly. It roars and leaps away, bucking Qrow off its back, but he’s not going to let it escape now. 

He turns to Clover, who promptly wraps an arm around his waist—Qrow tries not to be distracted by this—and grapples over to the Grimm again. They both land on the Sabyr’s back, and Clover goes for the tried and true method of restraining its neck while Qrow slides off, running alongside as the Sabyr sprints in its desperate attempt to throw Clover off. He tries to find an opening to slice off its head, but in a stroke of misfortune the Sabyr manages to dislodge Clover from its neck and flips him over instead, sending the man a few feet forward. It advances on him, and Clover grabs its saber-teeth, holding them back with straining muscles. “Qrow! Get it now!” He goes for it, but not before the Sabyr jerks its head up, once again flinging Clover, this time several feet up in the air. 

Qrow uses the brief moment of distraction to behead the Grimm, and its corpse falls over and starts to fade away. Up ahead, Elm’s finished off the last of the Grimm on the pass, so the coast is clear and they’re all safe—except for the fact that Clover is falling and without Kingfisher in his hand. That’s something to be a little worried about. Qrow drops Harbinger without a thought and runs over, reaching out his arms. 

Clover lands in them perfectly, and though Qrow stumbles a little he ultimately supports Clover’s weight entirely. Upon realizing he hasn’t broken every bone in his body, Clover looks up at Qrow and smiles, putting a hand on his chest. “My hero,” he sighs jokingly, and Qrow can’t resist the urge to drop the man in the snow. 

Clover lets out a yelp and then stands up, looking affronted for a moment before his visage crumbles and he starts to chuckle. Qrow gives an exasperated sigh and struggles to suppress a smile. “And to think you call  _ me _ birdie—you’re the one flying through the air.” 

“Well, I’m just counting my lucky stars that you were there to catch me,” Clover says nonchalantly, eyes locking with Qrow’s for just a moment before looking away, smile smug. “You know, your semblance may be misfortune, but I think you’re my lucky charm.” 

Qrow freezes for a moment. “Clover?” He says, tone level. The man hums in response, brushing some snow off his uniform casually, clearly expecting Qrow to ask him something. 

Suddenly, Clover is shoved up against the rocky wall of the mountain, Qrow’s hands fisted in his lapels. Red eyes, only centimeters away from his own, look up at him frustratedly. “ _ Shut—up, _ ” Qrow growls, and then kisses him. 

Clover is taken so utterly by surprise that he forgets to respond for several moments, but when he does finally process what’s going on he puts his hands on Qrow’s waist and pulls him closer. Qrow gives a muffled sigh and presses harder against Clover’s lips, his kisses like his fighting: aggressive and unrelenting. Clover finds himself completely lost in it—when Qrow pulls away by just a fraction, he’s been rendered helpless. 

Qrow looks up at him slyly through his eyelashes. Warm breath fans across Clover’s face as Qrow speaks, voice low and rough. “Finally speechless, lover boy?” Through hooded lids, Clover can see Qrow smirk. “Lucky me,” he whispers, and then withdraws, leaving Clover stunned in place. Qrow walks up the pass for a moment and then turns his head to the side to say something. 

“Before I change my mind… Pick me up at eight. You choose the restaurant.” Clover blinks, barely understanding the words before Qrow reaches the edge of the pass and looks over the steep ridge, turning around. “See ya later, hotshot.” He winks and salutes, leaning over the edge and falling backwards in an emulation of Clover. A cloud of black feathers follows in his wake, and Clover can see a crow flying away in the distance. 

Completely in shock, Clover stares forward, his brain short-circuiting. A wolf whistle from behind him, signaling Elm’s approach, doesn’t disturb his trance. She walks up and claps him on the shoulder, shaking her head and sighing. 

“You are in way over your head, boss,” she says, and Clover raises a hand to his lips. 

“Yeah,” he breathes, and then smiles, gazing at a black feather settling in the snow.

**Author's Note:**

> ok this is kinda bad like the POV changes are sloppy and i need to balance action and dialogue more but i had the idea in my head for a while and i just needed to get it out. im thinking about very quickly whipping up something for tomorrow continuing this, for the "date" prompt? lmk if that's something you guys would be interested in. thanks :)


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